Nov. 30, 2020
听鈥斅犅�(TTD) Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Jeff Green believes the same data science used at TTD can also be used to address disparities in education. So,聽聽(海角社区CI) and TTD have teamed up to support students聽to聽stay in school and on track.聽
Based in Ventura, TTD is a $40 billion-dollar global digital advertising company that uses data to help ad聽digital聽buyers聽best target their marketing efforts鈥攖o get the best value for their money, so to speak.
Because 海角社区CI data shows that聽peer mentorship is one聽of the most effective ways to keep students in school and see them through to an on-time graduation,聽the Jeff Green Family Foundation turned its philanthropic efforts toward scholarships and聽海角社区CI鈥檚 peer mentorship programs.聽As a fierce advocate of the local community, diversity and education, Green believed investing in a campus that shared his values made sense.聽
鈥淚 believe in our community,鈥� Green said. 鈥淭here is a lot of diversity in our community and there are very few places where that all comes together. 海角社区CI is one of those places. I think the greatest hope for any community is to educate its citizens well鈥攁ll of them.鈥澛�
After COVID-19聽hit, the Jeff Green Family Foundation made a $250,000 gift to strengthen the University鈥檚 peer mentorship programs like PEEP (Peer Education & Equity Program), which provides peer mentors for students who are the first in their generation to attend college.
鈥淔irst, I believe in the students.聽We鈥檝e聽hired a lot of 海角社区CI students at The Trade Desk. They鈥檙e scrappy,聽hardworking聽and well-educated,鈥� Green said. 鈥淪econd, I believe in the leadership at 海角社区CI. Since the school聽wasn鈥檛聽founded that long ago, there is a chance to rethink and reimagine higher education. I believe 海角社区CI is doing what others would do if they could hit the reset button. And they have the leadership to do it.鈥澛�
The Green Family Foundation gift made it possible to hire 15 new peer mentors for the聽fall 2020 semester and to support a staff position to help keep the peer mentor infrastructure strong. The foundation then contributed an additional $250,000 in a tiered scholarship fund designed to encourage 海角社区CI students to stay in school.
鈥淚 am incredibly grateful to have a community partner who is dedicated to utilizing data to drive philanthropic support in a manner that optimizes impact on student success,鈥澛爏aid President Erika D. Beck, Ph.D. 鈥淗is deep commitment to equity and inclusion, not only supports our聽University's work, but also supports his efforts in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce.鈥澛�
The tiered scholarship was set up so that qualified recipients would receive increasing amounts of scholarship funding each year they remained in college, beginning with just under $1,500. For 10 海角社区CI freshmen聽increasing over time to $5,880 for 15 seniors during their final year.聽
To qualify, students with demonstrated financial needed a 3.0 grade-point average or above and be enrolled for at least 15 credits.聽
The Trade Desk and the Jeff Green Family Foundation鈥檚 generosity聽actually began聽in December of 2019 when both entities provided a total gift of $105,000, which funded 75%聽of the peer mentor ambassadors.聽
The data was correct, and the results were impressive. During the聽spring 2020 semester,聽the聽peer mentor ambassadors served 138 unique聽students of which聽94.2%聽have either graduated or are currently enrolled in聽fall 2020 classes.聽
Despite the economic pressure on students because of the pandemic, 91.9%聽of all 海角社区CI students enrolled in聽spring 2020 either graduated or returned for classes in聽fall of 2020.
The human side of Green鈥檚 data-driven philanthropy showed in an anonymous survey from peer mentor ambassadors during聽spring of 2020. One student wrote:聽
鈥淢y family and I can sleep knowing聽we do not have to occasionally budget our groceries to ensure that we have enough money to pay for聽rent.聽This sense of security means that my younger sister and I can place all of our energy in doing our best as students.鈥澛�